


Left Behind

by idwir



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idwir/pseuds/idwir
Summary: Eddie wouldn't leave any of them behind but he gets left behind.
Relationships: Evan “Buck” Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this real quick and didn't edit.

Buck doesn’t know how it got so bad so fast. One minute they were laughing - fucking joking about - he can’t even remember what. The next minute part of the building collapsed and they were separated.

His ears are ringing and the only thing that stands out more than that is the pain. Everything hurts. His head, his ribs, his lungs - he realizes then that he’s inhaling lungs full of smoke and he rolls onto his stomach and blindly feels around for his mask.

“Buck!” It sounds like his name is being called from the end of a long tunnel. “Buck!”

“Hen!” he coughs.

Hen and Chimney are by his side. “Where’s Eddie?” Chimney yells over the sound of the blazing fire.

Buck pushes himself onto his hands and knees and his eyes widen then immediately close again. “I don’t know! I don’t know!” He tries to push onto his knees. “Eddie!” He coughs and coughs until he’s gagging.

“We have to get out of here!” Hen says. “Cap ordered us all to evacuate!”

“Not without Eddie!” He pulls out of her grasp and stands up.

His leg crumples beneath him and he screams.

Hen and Chimney are on him in less than a second.

“Someone needs to find Eddie!”

He sees the two of them exchange a look. “I’ll go!” Chimney says. “Hen, you got Buck?”

She nods and Chimney starts towards the stairs.

“I don’t have time to stabilize your break,” Hen says and starts pulling Buck’s arm around her shoulders. “C’mon!”

Once outside, Bobby takes over helping him limp over to an ambulance. “Eddie and I got separated, Cap.” Buck coughs hard. “The floor collapsed and I fell but I - think - Eddie -”

“Chimney is looking,” Bobby says, hands on his shoulders. “Let the paramedics check you out.”

Buck accepts the oxygen but glares defiantly at Bobby. Bobby walks away from him and closer to the building. “Chimney? Eddie? One minute and this building is going down. Get out now!”

“Cap? I can’t find him.”

There’s a loud crash and all eyes are back on the building.

“Chimney?” Cap calls through his radio.

“I’m here. My only way up just collapsed.”

“Get out of there now!”

“But -”

“Now!”

Buck’s eyes are trained on the entrance. He’s in so much pain but he can’t rest until he knows Eddie is okay.

A figure emerges from the thick clouds of black smoke and Buck holds his breath before breaking out into a fit of coughs. There’s only one figure and it’s way too small to be Eddie.

One second later the building collapses inward and Buck tries to stand, yelling, “Eddie!” His leg gives out beneath him again and Hen catches him, one arm against his chest, the other around his waist.

“Eddie!” He screams, tears making tracks on his dirt-covered face. “No! Eddie! We have to get him!”

He struggles against Hen until she can’t take his weight anymore and he falls to his knees. Bobby is in front of him and Buck cries, “We have to get him out!”

“He’s gone, Buck,” Hen says quietly.

“No, no, he’s not!”

As if the universe is mocking him, there’s another loud boom and a small explosion of fire shoots into the sky.

“Eddie!” Coughs wrack his chest but he continues screaming for his best friend. “We can’t let him burn. He would never leave one of us behind! Never!”

“He’s gone, Buck. There’s no way anyone could survive -” Bobby tries.

“It doesn’t matter!” Buck returns. “We need to - we need to - if - I - we - it -”

He’s lightheaded and there are black spots dancing in front of his eyes and he hears someone say, “Woah.” And everything goes black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about medical stuff so please don't judge the inaccuracies.
> 
> Thank you for reading and commenting and the kudos. I didn't expect it.

The first time Buck comes to his head is swimming and he panics because he can’t speak. He thinks he’s choking.

Maddie tries to hold him down but he flails around until pain flairs in his ankle and there’s a commotion around him but he can’t process anything besides the fact that there’s something down his throat.

The second time he gains consciousness a man grabs his shoulders and says, “Don’t panic, Evan. You’re in the hospital. We had to intubate you.”

He still panics just a little but they manage to take out the intubation tube. Then he’s sobbing uncontrollably and he gets sedated again.

The third time, Buck wakes over 24 hours later with only one person on his mind, one name on his lips and no intubation tube down his throat.

“Eddie.”

It’s meant to be a shout but his throat is so dry it comes out as a moan and he coughs between the first and second syllable. There’s a heavy hand on his arm and he hears his sister whisper, “Buck?”

His eyes don’t want to open. “Eddie?” he croaks.

“Buck,” Maddie says again. She says, “Help him sit up.” Then, “Here, drink.”

His head is pounding and even with support, sitting up has him almost blacking out again. He feels something against his lips and he parts them. There’s a cool trickle, but it still burns his throat.

“Can you open your eyes?” His heart falls. He recognizes the voice but it’s not the one he wants to hear.

“Cap?” He blinks his eyes open and it’s not as painful as he thought it was going to be. His leg is elevated and wrapped in a cast. “I had the worst dream,” he tells Maddie and Bobby as they help him lean back against his pillows.

He can still hear his head throbbing so he lets his eyes fall close again which means he misses the look they exchange over his hospital bed. “I didn’t think I hit my head that hard when the ladder truck came down on me.”

They’re quiet for a beat too long. Buck opens his eyes again, trying to keep that gnawing feeling of absolute dread at bay.

“Guys?”

“I’m going to get the doctor,” Bobby says and leaves the room.

“Maddie?” He squeezes her hand. “How long was I out?”

She’s been crying. He can tell by her red eyes and puffy eyelids. She looks absolutely exhausted. “Just a little more than a day.”

He thinks she’s going to say more but then Bobby is back with the doctor.

They wait patiently as the doctor checks his vitals and makes sure he doesn’t have a concussion.

“You’re going to sound like you smoke ten packs a day for a few days but you should be fine.”

As soon as the doctor leaves, Buck asks, “Where’s Eddie and Christopher?”

“Buck,” Maddie says, sadly. Tears fill her eyes and he shakes his head.

“He was dead as soon as you guys were separated.” Bobby is trying to keep his voice steady. “He didn’t suffer, Buck. Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head. He was on his back when the building came down so he was already gone.”

He doesn’t realize he’s mumbling “no” over and over until Maddie raises her voice over his. She grasps his face between her hands. “Evan, look at me.”

“No! He wasn’t - he can’t - no! I want to see him!”

“You don’t, you don’t,” Maddie tells him. She sounds as breathless as he feels.

“He sustained burns over 60 percent of his body,” Bobby says. “You don’t want to see him like that. He wouldn’t want you to -”

Buck glares at his captain. “He wouldn’t have wanted to be left behind! He never would have left any of us behind to be burned! He would have made sure to carry my dead body out before it could happen!” He coughs and coughs until he’s spitting black gunk onto his blanket.

Maddie tries to get him to drink water but he pushes it away. “He never talked about it. He never told you guys how he got his silver star by getting everyone home even the dead guy and you - we just let his body burn.” He ran out of breath after the first sentence but he pushes on, voice weak and croaky and pained. “We left him behind.”

He leans over the side of his bed, trying to catch his breath, but his sobbing is making it difficult, and he’s retching and his vision is going spotty again and he hears people talking but he can’t stop and he’s in so much physical pain but it’s nothing compared to the ache of his heart.

And for the fourth time in just two days, everything goes black.


End file.
